As an instructor looks out at the people in his morning class, a group of several students in the back of the lecture hall have their heads down and seem to be unconscious.

“We actually have a sleeping section,” said psychology Professor Russell Gruber. “My rule is that someone falls asleep in class, the person sitting next to them gets in trouble.”

Gruber’s philosophy is based on the idea that the person falling asleep cannot help feeling tired, but the person who is awake should have enough sense to wake the sleeper up. If they don’t, they get in trouble. Gruber said he knows it can be painful for a tired person to stay awake. All he asks is that those students sit in the back, otherwise he is offended.

Andrea Gall, an English major, admits to falling asleep in class.

“I try not to,” Gall said. “I close my eyes and jerk them open to try and stay awake. You just don’t feel good. Your body’s telling you one thing, and your mind’s telling you another.”

College students, more so than any other age group, are known for bad sleep behaviors, although Americans in general are chronically sleep-deprived, Gruber said. As a culture, Americans tend to learn that losing sleep is excused for the sake of being productive for a bigger portion of the day.

“People should feel like they’re allowed to get as much sleep as possible,” Gruber said. “People who sleep as much as they need get a lot of hassles for sleeping their lives away. One of my goals is to give people permission to sleep enough.”

Gall said she usually goes to bed at 2 a.m. and has to be awake at 8 a.m.

“I’d love to be able to go to sleep much earlier, but it just isn’t possible most of the time,” Gall said. “I have tons of homework all the time and I’m busy a lot, so I usually end up doing homework really late at night.”

Some people need more sleep than others. Some people need 10 hours while some can get by with less, Gruber said. There really is no “magic number” even though people always throw around the number eight, he said.

Chris Lootens, an outreach graduate student, gave an informal presentation on behalf of the Counseling Center last fall concerning students’ sleep habits and how to improve them.

Sleep problems could be warning signs of something more serious, Lootens said. Excessive daytime fatigue, snoring or gasping for breath during sleep, waking up after a full night of sleep feeling unrested, difficulty falling asleep and sleeping more or less than usual can be hints that something is physically or mentally wrong, Lootens said.

Several parasomnias, or abnormal sleep behaviors, prevent several people from getting a good night’s sleep, according to an article on www.dailytargum.com. These parasomnias, suffered by many college students, include sleepwalking, sleep talking, teeth-grinding, periodic leg movement and related behavior disorder where a person acts out his or her dreams.

The most common sleep disorder, according to a worksheet from the McKinley Health Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is insomnia.

Insomnia can mean difficulty falling asleep or difficulty staying asleep, due to lack of comfort, pain or other stimulants. Mostly, the problem is emotional.

“Sleep is a mystery,” Gruber said, adding no one really knows what happens to a person’s brain during the various stages of sleep, although experts agree it has regenerative qualities.

Healthy sleep can benefit students in several different ways, said Gruber. That student will feel more alert, will feel better, will have a better functioning immune system and will generally be in a better mood. And the body’s metabolism will work more efficiently, helping the student to stay thinner.

Gall said she is trying to get better sleep by setting a schedule for herself before bed, depending on when she has to get up for class the next day.

“I try to get to bed by midnight,” Gall said. “It will keep me from falling asleep in classes, and it will make me happier.”

GETTING BETTER SLEEP

– Exercise regularly

– Establish a relaxing bedtime routine

– Create a dark, comfortable environment to sleep in

– Avoid naps in the early afternoon or late at night

– Get up at the same time every morning

– Eat a light snack before bed to curb hunger

– Keep active during the day

– Avoid caffeine at night

– Cut down on alcohol and nicotine

– Try an ambient noise CD

– Go to bed when tired

– Read a book

– Do deep breathing and relaxation exercises

– Use progressive muscle relaxation (repeated tightening and loosening the muscles in the arms, legs, torso, and the head and face.)

Sources: Brochure from the Sleep Disorders Center of East Central Illinois

– worksheet from the Health Studies Resource Center at Eastern

– “Tips for Getting Better Sleep” worksheet from the Counseling Center

– Counseling Center workshop, “Getting Better ZZZZzzzz’s”

– student suggestions